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<title>A Match and a Pinch of Gold Dust by alixcat</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27652541">A Match and a Pinch of Gold Dust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/alixcat/pseuds/alixcat'>alixcat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>I just have a lot of feelings about how this might go, M/M, Meta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:47:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27652541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/alixcat/pseuds/alixcat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"He betrayed them, he betrayed you. How do you know he won’t do it again?"</p><p> </p><p>Post c2e117!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Match and a Pinch of Gold Dust</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Caleb tries to keep his guard up, tries to keep it under control, But then Jester is running over to Essek, screaming his name as if it's only them for miles around, and he can see it. The stress leaves his face, the tension frees up from his shoulders, there’s a glow restored in his eyes that it's been months since he last saw it. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s a traitor</span>
  </em>
  <span>. There’s a voice in the back of his head, keeping him from getting too lost in his own hopes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He betrayed them, he betrayed </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>you</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>. How do you know he won’t do it again?</span>
  </em>
  <span> He tried to shake it free, let himself think about it logically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So what if he betrayed them? That was three years ago, before he knew what it was like to have friends. Before he knew what it was like to </span>
  <em>
    <span>care</span>
  </em>
  <span> for people. And really, if he looked at the big picture, he wasn’t much better off three years ago either. Scamming people to get by, thinking only of what he had to gain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Mighty Nein had changed that. They gave him a place to stay, a family to be safe with, a home he didn’t have to run away from. He almost ran away with the beacon, too, all those months ago in Zadash. None of them had any idea the consequences of that day, just like Essek didn’t know that the trade he made that went unnoticed for two years would be ruined the way it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And even though there's so much they need to work through, so much baggage to unpack, he can tell Essek is genuine in this – in his love, in his care, in his dedication to the Nein. Maybe even if he doesn’t let his walls down right now, it’d be nice to know there's someone leaning against the other side, waiting for when he feels safe enough to bring them down.</span>
</p>
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